Greene continues to travel across the country
Northwest Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was in Florida on Friday to headline an event, following appearances the previous week at the Iowa State Fair.
The Rome Republican has also attended House sessions in Washington, D.C., but she did get home this month. Greene visited with the Cobb County GOP on Aug. 14 and touched base in her own 14th district at the Aug. 7 Floyd County Republican Party rally at the Coosa Valley Fairgrounds.
Greene’s Friday trip to the Hillsborough County GOP’s Lincoln Day fundraiser underscores a deep division in the local party, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Tapping Greene as the speaker has alienated some Tampa Republicans, who question why the local party would give a platform to a freshman lawmaker from a neighboring state instead of a homegrown Republican, the paper reported Friday.
“I’ve talked to Republicans who aren’t happy with (Greene) and aren’t going,” said former County Commissioner Sandy Murman.
But Tom Gaitens, one of Hillsborough’s state committeemen to the Republican Party, said he believes Greene will fire up many local Republicans. The event is sold out.
“Is she going to energize the moderates? Probably not,” Gaitens said. “You’re not going to please everybody all the time.”
A year of travel
Greene first took office in January and her travel has ramped up since mid-May, when she created the joint “Put America First” fundraising committee with U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. Most of those expenses won’t show up in Federal Election Commission filings until the September quarterly reports.
A look at filings so far shows the congresswoman paid out over $14,100 for airfare between Jan. 1 and June 30, to air lines ranging from Southwest, American and Jet Blue to Frontier, United and Delta.
Listed hotel payments for Greene and accompanying staffers totaled more than $3,287 during those six months, although it’s unclear from the dates how they match up with flights. Payments on the Greene campaign’s American Express credit card during that period topped $235,000.
Restaurant meal receipts provide some indication of where she was campaigning.
January: The campaign paid a $328 bill at The Warehouse, a steak and seafood restaurant in the Old Town district of Alexandria, Virginia. Earlier that month, the bill at Embassy Suites by Hilton in Arlington, Virginia, came to $1,243.
February: Hotel payments totaled $513 at the Springhill Suites in Tifton, in southwest Georgia. The bulk of the restaurant receipts were for meals in Virginia and Washington D.C. On Feb. 26, the campaign paid a $3,205 bill at Charley’s Steak House in Orlando, Florida.
March:♦ Campaign meal payments included $445 to MUR, a restaurant serving “Israeli modern cuisine” in Lawrence, New York, on March 14. The Capitol Hill Club in D.C. got $196 on the same date. On March 23, a $1,000 bill was paid for a meal at Morton’s — The Steakhouse, in West Palm Beach, Florida. The campaign also paid $313 on March 30 for a district event at the Courtyard Rome Riverwalk in Georgia.
April: The campaign paid another $347 to the Courtyard Rome Riverwalk on April 23, but Florida also saw a lot of business. Morton’s in West Palm Beach got
another visit, with $5,868 paid on April 22, the same day The Ben in Palm Gardens Beach got $838. ER Bradley’s Saloon in West Palm Beach was paid $255 on April 24. The campaign also paid West Palm Beach hotel bills at the Residence Inn on April 20 and Courtyard by Marriott on April 24.
May: Greene’s campaign was back in Florida in May, paying $213 for a meal at Delmonico’s Italian Steakhouse in Orlando on May 6 and $379 for rooms at the
Orlando Airport Marriott Lakeside on May 8. It spent $883 on May 15 at the Dalton Chick-fil-A to cater an event.
June: In addition to credit card payments totaling nearly $71,000 and two flights, the campaign paid for two meals at Washington D.C. restaurants. The Capitol Hill Club got $596 on June 14 and BLT Prime was paid $1,394 on June 22.